ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Being suspended for one game and fined by the NFL for his hit on Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub isn't going to make Denver Broncos middle linebacker Joe Mays change his style.
"I'm going to keep playing the way I've been playing, the way that I was taught to play the game," Mays said Monday after he was reinstated. "I'm not going to hold back at all. I may try to be safe a little bit, I guess. But as far as me holding back the way I play, no. Hard to the whistle."
Mays, whose hit sent Schaub's helmet and a chunk of his left ear flying, was docked $50,000, but he got to keep his $200,000-plus game check from Sunday.
"I was definitely happy about that," said Mays, who watched the Broncos' 37-6 win over the Oakland Raiders at home with his family. "You don't want to get a game check taken away from you, but at the same time, I still wanted to play, being the competitor that I am, and it (stunk) being at home watching it. But I'm just glad these guys took care of business."
Mays immediately apologized to Schaub for the nasty hit during the Broncos' 31-25 loss to the Texans at Denver on Sept. 23. Mays said he didn't intend to hurt Schaub, and the quarterback accepted his apologies.
Mays said he can't bring himself to pull back but will do everything he can to avoid an illegal hit and the accompanying punishment from the league.
"That's how I approach the game; that's how I'm going to continue to approach the game," Mays said. "I'll just try to make sure that I stay out of these situations that I just put myself in."
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press
